London faces ‘historic rise in unemployment,’ warns Sadiq Khan
There could be an “historic rise in unemployment” in London if the government does not do more to protect jobs amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic, mayor of London Sadiq Khan will warn today.
The number of Londoners claiming unemployment benefits has already shot up around 185 per cent since the start of the pandemic, today’s figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.
And unemployment is likely to rise further in the coming weeks and months as government support schemes are wound down. Almost 1.1m London workers are in sectors facing the greatest economic risk, such as tourism and hospitality, the Greater London Authority (GLA) said.
In a speech at the CBI’s summer reception today, Khan will call on the government to “target assistance in devastated sectors to prevent an historic rise in unemployment”.
“I’ve welcomed the chancellor’s measures to support jobs, apprenticeships and careers advice,” he will say. “But the Government needs to go further faster.”
The government has spent around £190bn so far on the coronavirus pandemic. Its job retention scheme has supported more than 9m jobs.
Sadiq Khan calls for targeted jobs support
Last week chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a £30bn package to support jobs as the furlough scheme is wound down. It included a job retention bonus programme which will pay firms to take back “furloughed” workers.
Yet the Labour party said the chancellor should take a more targeted approach. It urged him to continue job support programmes for the sectors most in need.
Khan will today echo those calls. A statement from his office pointed to tax data that showed 1.1m London workers had been furloughed. That it roughly 12 per cent of the UK total.
It warned many of these jobs could be permanently lost if the government fails to take targeted action. In particular, it called for support for the tourism and hospitality sectors so vital to London’s economy.
The mayor will say that the government must “target assistance in devastated sectors to prevent an historic rise in unemployment”.
“This will not only hurt our city, but will have a massive, negative knock-on effect on the rest of the country.”